Water-soluble polymeric films are commonly used as packaging materials to simplify dispersing, pouring, dissolving and dosing of a material to be delivered. A consumer can directly add the pouched composition to a mixing vessel, such as a bucket, sink or any vessel suitable for holding water. Advantageously, this provides for accurate dosing while eliminating the need for the consumer to measure the composition. The pouched composition may also reduce mess that would be associated with dispensing a material from a product container, such as pouring or scooping a material. In sum, soluble pre-measured polymeric film pouches provide for convenience of consumer use in a variety of applications.
Water-soluble polymeric films that are used to make currently marketed pouches would be useful for containing harsh chemicals. Notably, a unit dose pouch comprising such chemicals would be particularly advantageous to protect the consumer from directly contacting such chemicals. However, water-soluble polymers, and their resulting films, may incompletely dissolve after prolonged exposure to a harsh chemical contained therein. Such problems may particularly arise when the pouch is used, for example, to contain harsh oxidizing compounds, such as chlorinated compounds. Further, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,067,575, certain plasticizers have a substantial negative effect on solubility when the films are exposed to oxidizing agents. However, reducing the amount of plasticizer in the water-soluble film has a detrimental effect on the formability of the water-soluble film (e.g., vertical form, fill, and seal; thermoformability).
Thus, there exists a need in the art for a water soluble film that can be formed into water soluble packages for holding harsh oxidizing chemicals, such as chlorinated compounds, and remain water soluble after being stored in contact with such oxidizing chemicals.